individuals in some cases, beyond the organizations -- i know hhs has been interested in for instance the do it yourself havein the communal labs that sprung up in different parts of the country. this is partly an issue of responsible science. reaching out to high school students. project.rting a there is an understanding that you have to reach beyond. this is very difficult for the u.n. there is a kind of institution. the resolution does include an obligatory recommendation that states to reach out and engage

the public and industry. posed, it isat is the first resolution to identify proliferation of wmd as a threat to international peace and security. it has all sorts of ramifications and un lingo to do that. it's there. there has to be an understanding to reach out to various communities and it gets over this issue of each being suspicious of one another. a lot of what goes on in the notroliferation world may be a state, but it may be accompanied. it might be an individual research lab or scientist. is more of an understanding and i think more of an effort.

the big change in communication techniques, for instance, that i noticed the between the 2007 report and our current report is that almost all the agencies now average four or five different forms of social media use on these issues. engaging in trying to find new ways to engage more stakeholders. i don't know how effective that don't dobut if we that, it won't work. ?> are we safer today maybe we don't want to know the answer to that question. we have barely hit the surface of what you have described as an incredibly complex and truly global challenge. you will all have to pledge to

come back as soon as that conversation in the future -- join me in thanking the panelists. [applause] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2013] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] look at our prime time schedule now. it :00 p.m. eastern, we will

hear from the supreme court and oral argument in the case of town of greece versus galloway, opening government meetings with layer. then we have washington journal and cushing, oklahoma. considered to be the capital of america's oil kingdom. former sec chairman mary schapiro will look at changes made to the u.s. financial system since the 2008 financial crisis. all that tonight during prime time on c-span networks. increaseer jobs report of unemployment, 200-4000 jobs added but the rate likely jumped because furloughed federal workers were counted as unemployed while the government was shut down for almost three weeks in october. regardless of where you are

on the political spectrum, we feel very fortunate and grateful that we live in the united states of america. it is a very unique place. we do try to sell our product overseas. what is our brand? i think our brand is the constitution, the rule of law, and our values system. equal under the eyes of the law, ada ande system is the the rights of americans with disabilities. >> this is a treaty. it is a law. the emotional arguments no one can disagree with. but will it have the legal effect that is being offered by proponents of the treaty? we don't hear consideration of the report.

we don't hear the kind of legal analysis that will be appropriate for analyzing the legal impact of this treaty. than 130 countries have ratified the u.s. inspired you in disabilities treaty. it failed to win senate approval in 2012. this week, they take it up again. knock him gladwell explains how underdogs can use the status to their advantage. and being a big fish in a small pond. and on american history tv, two feet from president ford, lynette squeaky fromme pulled the trigger. services and human secretary kathleen sebelius will have her testifying on problems with the federal health care

website and insurance coverage. she and other officials have gone on record saying those problems will be fixed. you can watch her sunday morning before the senate finance committee. >> after becoming first lady, maney eisenhower ran a tight ship. state visits.r of watch our program saturday at 7:00 p.m. eastern on c-span. and live monday night, our series continues. >> she is very well-known known as a style icon. she was representing the country both at the white house and while traveling abroad. what colorsbout would mean something to the country. for her visit to canada, she showed this red suit as a

gesture of respect for the red of the canadian maple leaf. that shethe thought put into her wardrobe and she also knew the advantage of choosing a color or style. kennedy live at 9:00 eastern on c-span. rick perryvernor returned to iowa for the first time since ending his 2012 bid for president after the republican caucuses. his remarks were about 15 minutes. [applause] >> thank you. memoriesme really fond of campaigning here. caucuses.in the iowa

the only thing i regret is taking that really big white out of that veggie corn a dog at the state fair. will probably see that one again sometime. as the son of a farmer, i feel very comfortable coming here. is your midwestern values, your sense of community, your love of country, and your deep and abiding faith that remind me of the place i grew up in. difference is we rarely .ad any snow we specialize in cattle instead of hogs and we grew cotton instead of corn. out of a love of deep concern for our country. our national debt is approximately the size of our national gdp.

there is no serious plan for us to address that. food stamps has more than doubled over the last decade. secretary bill sac called the food stamp program called it an economic stimulus. food stamps are not the solution to economic problems. they are a symptom of the problem. people can't find work. today, we are watching this national healthcare law literally unravel before our eyes. wouldesident said no one lose their health plan. except the millions of americans who will. , next herush limbaugh will be saying if you like your

guns, you will be able to keep them. instead of solving problems, the leaders shut down government. amazing the obama administration is capable of barricading a war memorial despite government being shut down but they can't operate a website when it gets up and running. not just that the political parties disagree. but they are so disagreeable. there is discord and distrust. believe me. i know a few things about forgetting. [applause] when millions of americans can't trust the president about

something so fundamental as their health care, the damage is .ar greater they try to tell us what the definition of "is" is. to quotebe so bold as a t-shirt maker in minnesota in a crowd full of islands, the nsa is the only part of government that is actually listening. [applause] washington is so determined to enact their theological agenda, they refuse to listen to the plight of americans. in their estimation, the american people can't determine the level of coverage that they need. they don't care that treating carbon dioxide as a pollutant

destroy jobs because they are pandering to environmental extremists. childon't care that every born into america today will inherit more than $54,000 in national debt because their experiment in big government is too important. we're losing the country we love government that is too big and too arrogant. it is incumbent upon us to take our country back. that what heals our nation will not be found in washington dc. i think those answers are going to be found in the states. the only hope for america is that the common sense found on

mainstreet emerges into a movement that sweeps across the country. we have to turn away from washington to find answers. look to red states that are outperforming blue states. states that are cutting taxes, balancing, budgeting, creating jobs. what we are looking for can be found in the record of government. rick scott. terry brandstead. conservative governors that are controlling spending and investing in jobs. branstad signed the largest tax cut in iowa history. no wonder iowa has added 160,000

7.3 billion dollars in economic development projects under his watch. [applause] i get up every day and go to work. don't, kerry will be there. him. will send he is a serious governor making a real difference. assembled an incredible team. that is part of that administration. he deserves our thanks. they are dedicated to this

state. there are states that are succeeding. and there are states that are sinking. states in trouble like california, illinois, california. [laughter] there are states that are on the rise. capital and personal income are fleeing those states. california and you rent a u-haul to move your costs twice as much because you cannot find a truck big enough to flee california. state is creating more jobs than any others in the nation.

the reason for that is not rocket science. spend taxes, we didn't all the money. soput legal reforms in place that you would not be sued frivolously. we have anthat, abundance of jobs and revenue. while you can't spend your way , you can grow yourself there. visions playing out. there is this washington blue state vision and one enacted in red states. the vision that wins out whether the government protectionist offered by democratic leaders, or the limited government and freedom loving states offered up

by republican governors, they will determine the future of our nation. america cannot sustain its current fiscal course. we can't borrow trillions from bankers in beijing and brazil and tokyo. the downgrading of our credit should not have surprised anyone. our leaders were fighting over a while the debt was soaring by trillions. he was downgrading our standing in the world.

he emboldened iran and muddled through the arab spring without any coherent foreign policy. his latest gambit in syria with a demonstration of weakness in a world that needs a strong america. as dennis miller put it, we have got to be the only country in the world that sends out a save the day attack card. [applause] it is not in our interest to given advance warning to an enemy. we want the first sign of our coming to be craters in their soil. [applause] we have to reestablish america's that startshe world

with the foreign policy that ronald reagan referred to as peace through strength. it is not too late for america to lead in the world. we can do it again. but only if we get our house in order first. our national debt is a national security issue. and nationalization of our health-care system will further erode our economy. borders left unenforced will leave us subject to future attacks. it is time for washington to thes on the few things that constitution establishes like securing the borders, defending the country and delivering a cogent foreign policy. get out of the health-care business. a get out of the education business.

stop hammering our industry. of the sleeping giant american industry create prosperity again. that is the code that we have to put in the place. that is the code we have to stand by. renewed you with this sense of purpose in this country can lead america back to greatness again. i stand with you to work to create that. ah bless you and thank you for letting me come tonight to be a part of it. thank you. good to see you, brother. how are you? some more about rick perry. his next stop is likely going to be south carolina next month. in early 2016 state. he was in the first in the

nation caucus state of iowa, the gop dinner. the next stop in south carolina will be spartanburg will he will -- where he will attend a banquet on december 3. governor perry ran for president in 2012 and is thought to be considering another bid for 2016. quiet on capitol hill this weekend, congress will be out monday in observance of veterans day. those will be back in on tuesday. before taking up a judicial nomination in the afternoon, a procedural vote has been scheduled at 530 eastern. up a bill also take to broaden the oversight of medical compounding centers. the house also returns at 2:00 eastern on tuesday with work on major bills starting wednesday. the house is expected to debate on a bill that allows health plans currently available on the

individual market to continue in 2014 without individual penalties. work aiming to reduce lawsuit abuses. you can follow the house right here on c-span. >> we bring public affairs events directly to you, putting you in the room at congressional hearings, white house events, briefings, conferences, and complete double to gavel coverage of the u.s. house as a service of private industry. companies the cable 34 years ago and funded by your local satellite provider. you can watch us in hd. >> the atlantic council hosted an event examining the security of south asia, specifically afghanistan and iran. panelists discussed the regional interests of the u.s., russia, and pakistan.

nice cold clear day in washington and is probably the same in geneva. i hope if there is news from there, you will let us know. there is a connection between what is going on in geneva and what is happening here. if there is a nuclear agreement or improvement in relations between the u.s. and iran, it is going to have an impact on iran's role in the region. we are focused on the eastern neighbors, specifically afghanistan, pakistan, and india. iran is considered a middle eastern country but is historically as strong if not stronger with its eastern neighbors. and south asia.

iran will be a pivotal player as it has been all along in afghanistan, especially next year as the u.s. and nato began to withdraw some if not all of their forces. they have recommendations for u.s. policy. helping role afghanistan manage water resources which is a key issue for iran as a downstream neighbor. to othercontribute .egional problems it would have enormous benefit not just for iran, but afghanistan, pakistan, india. part of this report is an expert on iran and south asia. she has worked as a journalist, media and political analyst and has written in english and persian. she is a frequent contributor.

i have known her for five years now and have been impressed by the depth of her knowledge and passion. she is a senior geographer for .he corps of engineers she studied the watershed and its terminus which is the basin. she served in afghanistan from 2001 to 2012 as senior adviser on watershed management to the commanding general of regional command south west. andhas a ba in anthropology

this is a key issue for iran and its neighbors. we are very pleased to have him here as an act government .fficial the special representative for afghanistan and pakistan at the state department, a long-time at thethat has directed council of foreign relations. he has taught political science. from november to december of 2001, he was special adviser to the u.n. special representative for the secretary-general of afghanistan during the time that produced the bond conference and the first post taliban

government for afghanistan. i will ask each of the speakers to make brief remarks and we will go to questions. >> thank you very much, barbara. thank theke to council for providing us this opportunity to discuss this importance ofng peace and stability of the whole region. quickly, the goal is to attract attention to the issue

that this is not just as barbara mentioned, important for stability of afghanistan but the entire south asia and central asia. it would also be of interest to the u.s. and its fight against terrorism on the insurgency, and drug trafficking as barbara said. let me explain briefly what this report is about. one thing i need to mention is that the only country in south with territorial dispute is iran. orween pakistan and india

the territorial dispute between afghanistan and pakistan. this difference and dispute over .ater no differences over land. relation has always been cordele -- cordial and friendly, with full military and financial support to pakistan during its three wars the india, and iran was first country to recognize

pakistan in 1947. closelation has been very and friendly, and full support to pakistan against india. as you caneason was guess, the fact that india and pakistan belong to different camps. andstan are u.s. allies, iran a very close ally of the united states in the region. in 1979, the revolution with iran -- friendship still , and exporting of islamic ideas and revolution that iran meant and was

promoting did not apply to pakistan for several important reasons. one is that the shiite community in pakistan are very well integrated into pakistani society. if you can go back to the founder of pakistan, was a shiite. the other reason could include the fact that the pakistani shiite community is very divided and split. is the islamic model that existed in iran. iran stayed away from interfering with pakistani matters. there have been several ups and downs in the iran-pakistan

and ironically, during one of these downsides in the 1990's was when it turned out that pakistani nuclear technologies were transferred to iran. the pakistani government or any responsible official did not know of the deal. the fact that pakistan lost the war to india and lost a big -- saudiits territory coming into play in the u.s. presence in the middle east

toit made the shah of iran relation, and concluded that -- you could see from the visits of shah to india, and relation started getting warmer and closer. not completely allies, but friends. 1979, iran came out of a packed, and that was a good reason. joined the nonaligned movement. india was the starter of this movement. it brought the two countries and around the 1990's,

they even started cooperating in military and even security sector areas. gas, andided oil and it is basically opened up -- that was the result of the for things that bear in the way of getting two .ountries to get closer pipeline that we will discuss in detail, that was an area that india and iran could have gotten very close, and you will hear the story and how india had to pull back in 2009.

what was shocked by the three times that indiana -- india voted at the boards of governors against iran, which referred council,he un security and that was grounds for imposing more sanctions on iran. let me know -- very quickly hast afghanistan, iran always been present in afghanistan, even during soviet occupation and communist regime. the only time that iran's afghanistan, even though iran was hosting warlords, iran was hosting millions of afghan refugees.

to expand itsork invested heavily in the construction after the fall of the taliban regime. also -- has also disrupted the political process in fighting u.s. or foreign military in afghanistan, perhaps to make sure that afghanistan cannot be [indiscernible] conclusion, as barbara mentioned, we believe there are issues in south asia that does not have a solution, there is no such thing as solving afghanistan's border issue without considering the fact that it is also an issue in iran

, or pakistan and afghanistan the same way about water. any solution needs to be regional, and should also involve other parties and .ountries that would contribute to the peace and stability in in 2014.an thank you so much. i'm sorry if i took a long time. i always do. >> it is a pleasure to be here this morning, and quite an honor to represent many of the folks behind the research effort we been doing about the regional water security issues that are

tied not only to afghanistan, but it's neighbors. let me clarify one point arbor made. although i feel like i could have been in afghanistan from 2001 until 2012, it was 2011 until 2012. was deployed to afghanistan not as an army corps of engineers representative. i was reporting straight to the commander general, regional command south west, and was expected to be outside the wire, working with people and issues dealing with water. engaged with provincial leadership in afghanistan, as well as going up to ministries in kabul, and i could not understand the situation as it is now without that field experience. i notice the picture they chose for the bio is me in my camouflage fatigues. although i was deployed with the marines, more often than not i was in my cities.

when one of the marine goes, do you think there are any of those justt era mines in here, make sure you have your dog tag in your laces. we were muddy, we were hot, we were sweaty. we had an incredible experience. monitoring the water involved in the systems is probably the fundamental challenge to understanding what are security in the region. there has been no true monitoring of the water on a consistent basis in afghanistan since the late 1970's. that is something that has to change. it is something that fundamentally is a problem that the afghanistan government is trying to work with. into government

service, i was a college geography professor. it's important to make sure that you have a sense of place. you don't have a cognitive map of afghanistan running through your head, try to get to where you can see. afghanistan's issues about life and livelihood are tied to water. it is a landlocked country. it happens to be the headwaters 25 systems that move into -- to into asiams that move and pakistan. water flows downstream, except when it flows towards money. that was a saying when i taught school in colorado. that was one of our comments about the colorado river. , use itredirect water to death without monitoring it. unless you know the cost benefits, you don't know that what you are doing is sustainable.

topics i'm working on right now as a research scientist for the army corps of engineers has to do with water security and sovereign state stability. to stabilize the population's support, to agriculture, generate energy, and sustain public health, you need water. it underpins the essential services that a country citizen expects of an established government. afghanistan's citizens expect that, iran's citizens expect that. the world faced profound water security challenges tied to food, energy, climate variability, and population dynamics which can exacerbate ethnic and political tension among negatively affect economic and social well-being, and increase the likelihood of a sovereign state's instability. i'm going to click to the next slide.

thanks. the stability and economic development of afghanistan hinge on the improved management of its water resources, given the dominance of agriculture in the afghan community, the relatively in fraction of arable land poor condition of the waters of the country's water infrastructure, and the inadequate coordination and planning of water related civil projects. this map has afghanistan floating in space, as if it's not tied to any of the countries around it. it also does not show that those watersheds extended to the countries surrounding it. that wehuge fallacy make. if we look at countries in the sense of scale is critical. one of the things that has happened since 2002, as we've had civil and military projects developed to ensure progress and

stability in afghanistan, water has been considered an essential service. has been bundled into the sector working groups. it's been about infrastructure, and acquisition of water for a family, but not tied to the watershed scale. this is critically important if we're thinking about iran downstream. as a member of the army corps of engineers, i can tell you that engineers want to have a mathematical solution to a problem. how much water flow needs to be in place? how do we solve this? what is the algorithm we use in a computer? this is a human problem. the human dynamics of this area are is critically important as those watersheds. the different types of people , comparedn the area to the population helping with

some of the down construction, all of those factors are critically important. you need a geo-narrative of this area to really understand it. it needs a physical as well as human components. that is what our watersheds look like. since the 1950's, when the united states was involved in putting in dams in this area -- the argan doug dam, these projects were put in in the 1950's. they were countering activity in the north that was tied to the soviet union. afghanistan was seeing a proxy war, if you will, between who can have the influence in the south -- influence. in the south, the united states through the usaid. we build these projects, we put

in things, assuming water will be there. that's probably a rather erroneous assumption. many times the water that is there is not in the quantity needed, and many times the water that is there is not the quality needed. the romans knew that in carthage. if you salt of the field, you will kill a crop. if you water a field with water that is so high in solids that it retards the growth of the crop, you have not solved the problem. you can't put in wells and assume that will bring water to a city or population if the water from the well is nonpublic. -- non-pumpable. we don't have the hydro geological studies needed. this area has been undergoing a tremendous amount of drought conditions. as a geography professor, let me help you understand -- a drought

means an anomaly. it's a reduction in water that is anticipated. this area is a desert. drought is the normal state of affairs. there has been less water coming into the river from the central helm. water is unpredictable. the amount of water contained in the snow varies. we have had numbers of challenges in this area. if you can see the slides, the upper left-hand side is a picture of the helmand river in october. the amount of salt in that river is incredible. you can almost walk on that water. it's not something you grab a bucket of it and take it home to drink, but people do. on the right-hand side, you will see a flooded cornfield. we have had many projects where people are going, why don't you grow corn? orir growing corn for silage to create more organics for the soil.

corn has an enormous amount of evapotranspiration, where you lose water to the atmosphere. poppy is incredibly tolerant. as we try to change crops, do things differently, those need to be considered. on the lower left-hand side, there is an image of someone with their sheep out near the water. everything and everyone uses water from this system. and yet it is very unreliable. thehe right-hand side, helmand province, a semipermanent settlements. they are getting their water straight from the helmand system. this is what it looks like from an osprey. if you're near the helmand river, if you are near an era

geisha and canal, if you have green. canal, you have green. one of the irrigation canals as shown on the right-hand side. some of those are incredibly deep. they are deeper than i am tall. i've had to catch a ride on many a marine's back to get across. to understand this, you've got to work and a number of scales. the areas highlighted on this ,ap, the most northern red box the reservoir. to the right, the boxed area showing kandahar. you need to consider the climate change nexus with all of this. we have a river system with a limited amount of water, which is being used for irrigated agriculture. the water is being used to produce electricity. kandahar is a huge consumer of electricity.

projects represent the international forces as well as civilian community. they're working on projects to increase electricity. you have to hold water behind a dam to have enough hydraulic power. you are holding water to generate power, you are releasing it for agriculture further down the stream. you have got people down there. human consumption of water is necessary. this is where it butts up against the iranian. -- iranians. it is quite an engineering project. it was built in a 1950's. hydropower was added in 1975. it needs a lot of rebirth for refurbishment. through the usaid and implementing partners, a lot of

work has been done irrigation, .anal rehabilitation that affects the amount of water in a system wher. we have helped to clean out canals. every time you move, use, or capture water upstream you're keeping it from going downstream. remind yourself, what is downstream --iran. the only transboundary agreement in place is the disputed helmand river treaty with iran. the accord determined the specific amount of water that should flow into iran, 22 cubic meters per second with an option for iran to purchase an additional four cubic meters per second in normal water years. this agreement was never fully implemented due to the afghan coup, the soviet invasion, .slamic revolution

and afghanistan have held discussions with the karzai government under the framework of the 1973 agreement, they have been inconclusive to date. upstream, where we have usaid projects that are being funded to move water into new canals, the dialogue and discussion with iran is critical. i'm going to wind up here by showing you a little bit of the changes in topography. we have the mountain of highlands leading down to the lowland desert, draining into the basin. these are three shots from that area. the upper left-hand slide was taken at the reservoir, the release of water. 77 cubic meters per second and october of 2011. i traveled 280 kilometers further downstream. we are in the water getting these discharge rates. an order ofby

magnitude, from 77 cubic meters -- it had dropped by an order of magnitude, from 77 to big meters per second. determine imagery to that is the way it has been over time the mother water floods and retreats in the system. the water time, floods and retreats in the system. this is something that could be to scared -- discussed and shared. on the iranian side, a number of reservoirs of gone into place, and iran has been moving to redirect water for its irrigation and growing population in the region. these pictures are from surround ing afghanistan. it is a bustling city. since 2009, when the indian government helped fund a paved road that connects from the theer up to the ring road,

road that runs around afghanistan and could bring trade and commerce to central asia in a way that does not depend on the pass. this is huge. now there's another way to get there. one of the slides is a fellow making bricks. the truck traffic between iran and afghanistan at this border crossing, and the amount of money that could be tied to the trade and transportation here has made the city something of interest to kabul. otherwise, it was not as important of a player. that is it. thank you very much. i will say that this is a picture from the city down to the port. this is critically important. the port is being funded by the indian government to be increased, and the trade and

traffic could improve. a lot of people are involved in water strategy, and he iranians are noting that as well. thank you very much for your time and attention. [applause] thank you very much. , there is a basin. it is not just for dragging, agriculture. wildlife tremendous there. -- drinking, agriculture. there is tremendous wildlife there. >> is a great pleasure for me to speak to you here as a powerless person. i found during my time in , i had the special forces standing behind me to win the argument, inhibited them

from what i was actually saying. thatoping i won't have problem anymore, and we can have more of a genuine exchange. i will talk about the political and security issues involved in iran and the future of afghanistan, to some extent pakistan. time to make have any of this explicit, the water issues are closely related to all of these political, security, ethnic issues. it's not a coincidence that the river basins coincide with approximately the territories of the leaders that emerge from the civil war. it's not a coincidence that borders that cut water basins in half are porous to the people. nomadism is an adaptation. irrigation our country. irrigation brings water to the people. brings people and

animals to the water, and both have implications for political authority, migration, military mobilization, and so on. i will note that the backbone of -- a moven in helmand to the north, where there was more irrigated land. had been displaced people in helmand, where there is an increasing shortage of water. them as part of a political settlement would also require dealing with those water issues. camedministration in iran into office with the idea of taking a regional approach to afghanistan. most of the emphasis has been on afghanistan's relationship to pakistan.

plays a very important role as well, could play a more important role in the future, and it's a very complicated one to understand, one that is difficult to discuss with the u.s. government. years ago i was at one of the supersecret international , which will have to remain supersecret. if people found out what went on there, they would realize how unimportant these meetings are, and they would realize how little goes on. .here was a panel about iran the question i asked of that panel was, does the u.s. have any other enemies with whom it has so many common interests. afterwards, henry kissinger came , we have moreaid in common with iran -- were common interests with iran than

with most of our allies. u.s. and iranian interests in afghanistan are quite assistent, except in so far they require a u.s. presence there. u.s. and iranian relations are overall antagonistic. the u.s. presence to realize goals that are otherwise in iran 's interests are seen as a threat by iran. this creates a lot of confusion her. i see craig karp is here. i'm about to tell a story he was a part of. at the bonn talks, where craig , theart of the delegation u.s. and iran work together to reach agreement on the successor government to the taliban. came up to craig and said they wanted to use this as an opening to discuss -- to improve relations with the united states. craig said, there are other

issues we have to discuss. they said, let's discuss them. instead, they were put on the axis of evil. iran iran, during the beginning of the modern the job -- mayinejad period, defect incorporating with the united states higher priority than its antagonism with the united states and iraq. even as tensions increase, and there was talk about, as you may remember in the bush administration, regime change. it is still on the table, but now they are sitting around the table at least, even if everything is still on it. despite that, iran still had the position, as i was told by the government, via ronnie

officials, that even if the united states attacks iran, iran will not respond in afghanistan or iraq -- as i was told by the iraniment, via ironic -- officials. they decided that the u.s. presence in iran was a bigger threat to our brand man instability. iran thanthreat to instability. they started giving select targeted aid to taliban commanders, especially in western afghanistan, in order to send a message to the united states. it also helped organize -emonstrations against the u.s. afghan strategic partnership, which went further than iran wanted, when some of those demonstrators attacked the united nations headquarters and killed a number of the nepali guard there. i hope they learn from that that

once you start organizing violence in afghanistan -- or anywhere, actually -- you may not be able to control it. i have been involved by official capacity in a number of multilateral meetings, both official and semi official, that i've come to better understand the iran he position -- irani position. let me explain what that is and how it relates to the u.s. position. from the beginning of the obama administration, u.s. wanted a direct dialogue with afghanistan about iran, and we never got to -- i'm sorry, direct dialogue with iran about afghanistan, and whenever got to it because of obstacles on our side and on their side. have ife opportunity to you private discussions with irani officials. their view is that if there is

significant progress on the nuclear file, that will create the political space for u.s.- iran engagement about afghanistan. now what are the issues? both the u.s. and iran have a common interest in the destabilization of afghanistan, and more than that, both the u.s. and iran find the current political dispensation in afghanistan except double to them, which is not the case for been pushingch has for certain changes in that political dispensation. however, they have different models of how to move from where we are to a more stable situation. -- inited states model don't want to exaggerate the coherence of u.s. policy, but i will also present it as if it were coherent. it has one track, which is, as we withdraw our combat forces, the afghan national

security forces, of course, afghan political process, and in particular the presidential elections, which are essential for afghanistan's future, because strong security forces with no government -- strong armed forces with no government are not security forces. the same time, recognizing that there is a political base as well as other bases for the insurgency, seek a political with taliban or other groups on the condition that they, as part of the agreement, and otherrom al qaeda international terrorist groups and except a constitutional framework in afghanistan. as the backbone of that, the buted states sees a small important long-term u.s. military presence as well as long term consistent financial assistance to the afghan national security forces, as

essential to provide a stabilizing force in the course of that transition. of course, if it is really successful, we will transition out of that eventually, right? everyone agrees that the goal in afghanistan should be no foreign .roops if everyone agrees to the terms, then the u.s. and afghan a long-nt will agree on term presence by mutual consent .y as long as it is needed iran's position is that the long-term military presence is in fact a major cause of destabilization of afghanistan. it is a threat to them, they say it is a threat to other neighbors, and they say even if mr. obama wants peace, who knows who will succeed him, and they have a very colorful description of the american political scene, which they once presented to me. they said there are three groups powerful in the congress, the

neoconservatives, the military companies, and the christian conservatives who believe the end of days are coming, and there's no point in seeking peace. are not sure who will be in control of those military forces in the future. that's what they say, at any rate. therefore, they say they accept the need for a political settlement. that is to say, they would be ofpared to support some kind negotiated settlement that modified in some respect the political dispensation in a way that was not a threat to them or a threat to their core allies and friends in afghanistan. but that that is impossible as long as there are u.s. troops there. in recent years, other regional countries that opposed u.s. presence -- in particular russia and china -- have very much modified their position. they still oppose u.s. permanent bases there, but russia and china advised president karzai at the highest levels that he

should sign the bilateral security agreement with the united states. very remarkable for russia, by the way, which has been quite vocal about this. iran has not yet changed its position about that. reiterated the previous position that all u.s. forces should leave afghanistan. if theot know yet dialogue might lead to a modification of that, but let me soefly say why that would be important. one is that to the extent that somehas been supporting taliban commanders, that should not be construed as support for the taliban. they support armed groups in to theo send messages united states, perhaps to the afghan government from time to time. but that, of course, is disruptive. besides the fact, i might mention, that it kills people,

which is undesirable. they might be prepared to stop that in that case. perhaps more important is that iran has a great deal of influence -- soft power, as it has been referred to, in afghanistan. there are many afghan political leaders with whom they have close ties. it's known they give cash to the presidency, as does the united states. they give cash to other political leaders in afghanistan. they have invited members of the political commission to tehran. they have contact with them. of course, the price of admission to such talks is some in thewhich means that future, whether there is a full- scale insurgency war or not, every political move in afghanistan will continue to be in a very tense and unstable situation. in particular, the outcome of next year's presidential election will very likely be negotiated. i don't mean that the voting is

irrelevant -- not at all -- but it is very probable that the voting and the vote counting will not be decisive. there will be a lot of uncertainty about who got how many legitimate votes. no one will get a majority. we do not know if the country is a secondf holding round of election. forming a government will hold the human -- a huge amount of power. if they fear each other's influence in afghanistan, that would have a very negative influence on those negotiations. if they are engaged in dialogue and can communicate, than they as well as other regional powers can play a positive role in enabling that afghan political actors to reach agreement on a successful regime. the same thing goes for a political settlement because the fears about the lyrical settlement, which would involve changing the political his position in some way or another -- i should mention that those discussions between the taliban and the united states, the taliban have not said anything about that. they are concerned about u.s.

presence, as is iran, and of course, their prisoners in guantánamo. nonetheless, that would be also a very difficult political negotiation. to the extent that iran feels thatded or is concerned such a political settlement would be added expense, then it could be very disruptive, whereas if it were included, it could help find solutions to some of the very difficult problems, some of which in fact involve water inside afghanistan . what happens today is quite crucial because it may open the u.s.-iran dialogue about afghanistan, which could be very helpful to the security and political outcomes there, and to the american efforts there.

-- you talk atart little bit about iran and pakistan, but one of the issues that has also been at dispute between the united states and iran that has impeded iran's efforts to export natural gas to the region -- it's been called .he so-called peace pipeline u.s. sanctions, u.s. policy this froman has kept happening. do you foresee any possible change on this front? and if you could also say something about nor sharif -- no are sherry -- nawar sharif. he's very close to the saudi's, and there have been more

incidents where both iran and pakistan face insurgencies. the rumor is that the saudi's gave the money, and sharif gave them a green light to support these groups. two things -- peace pipeline -- is there a better chance now? and sharif, what do you think that will do for iran-pakistan relations? >> let me just say something to .nswer your question something that started very big and cut here and cut there, and what you have from the peace pipeline is a simplified bottle -- simplified model. the peace pipeline has involved several prime ministers and the president and pakistan.

there's a good chance that it would continue, but there is also a good chance that that is what iranian media think at this .oint institutean-based urged sharif to .top the deal the minister of oil of iran came out responding that it really is , andoing to go anywhere the pakistanis to not have money, we should not hold up the project.

then he started talking about pulling the pipeline from pakistan. i think pakistanis are waiting to see how it goes with the negotiations, and that could an impact. if the sanctions on iran's oil and gas is removed, there's a good chance they could invite india to join the project again. conflict that was promoted, supported, and suggested taking gas to india and pakistan and afghanistan.

but the security of both pipelines cannot compare. one goes through a tribal area. unsafe area, versus iran's peace pipeline that goes area.h a relatively safe by the way, sharif was also involved in the peace pipeline. as you know, the insurgency is historically -- you know, it has rules in that area. it is also in the report that

they have cracked down on the insurgency. they have always accused pakistani government of not doing enough to secure the border. it has been going on for some time. but in the media, you would see that they are kind of blaming the pakistani government for being upset with their kashmiri borders and not doing anything they, of pakistan, and course, believe that sharif is close to saudi arabia, but there the difference, as one of

former officials put it, that, "we do believe that sharif is close to saudi arabia, but he is not an agent of saudi arabia and ."kistan that is the difference. we have seen the reports the other day about transferring .uclear technology unfortunately, iran's response to this kind of insurgent has been very harsh. hanging and executing people and prisoners. toe of them were sentenced lesser terms. they were hanged and executed in revenge to the insurgency. their approach was that they

would even exchange prisoners with another insurgent group. with aproached change shiite-centric -- ahmadinejad's government has increased , but to his credit, the religious leader is a very and has really permitted the youth to go crazy. has tried to calm people down and reach out to the central government. they talked about the importance of working to bring people together, basically. >> thank you, that's very helpful.

issues, we stole shamelessly from the white paper that has not yet been published. you have a very good recommendation on a water expert group that you would like to set up. where do things stand in terms of who is advising afghanistan on water, and what happens next year when u.s. troops start to withdraw, funding goes down? will it be possible to continue to work with the afghans and other countries in the area? of whatieve that a lot we have seen in play right now is a huge role by usaid in capacity building. right now, it is incumbent on afghanistan to have people trained to work with the water issues. i believe the government of afghanistan sees that as a shortfall. usaid is fundamentally involved in that.

i believe that universities in the area are also playing a role because it is important to see bringhey are trying to forward some experts. one of the problems is that in many of these areas, they are considered non-permissive environments. a lot of people do not want to go down to helmand to run around because they perceive it to be kind of the wild west, and it is just out of control down there. the perception of it all needs to change. i believe there's also issues of considering water information to be a matter of national security, and a lot of times, people do not feel compelled to share that. i know that regionally speaking, in central asia, and pakistan, in india, the water that you gather is yours. usedegree to which we can it to help with analysis so that we are not dependent on

countries actually sharing a dialogue where we can get a sense of seeing it -- that has really got to roll into this as well. post-2014, i believe that one of the issues that's going to come protecting thebe monetary areas that the afghans have established. you have got to engage the population and have them see a vested interest and understanding. education is a huge component of making it all work. >> i encountered this issue at a political level when i was working as a consultant to the united nations, assisting the afghan government in tracking the afghan national development strategy and the afghanistan in 2005, 2000 six. what i found was there is a very high level of mistrust at the highest levels of the afghan government, of any international involvement in water issues, and

there was ar, proposal, including the afghanistan compact, something about afghanistan signing agreements with its neighbors, which is actually required under international law to get international financing for the project, and the level of suspicion was so high that that was removed from the document. thatt want to emphasize security confidence-building an political settlement are likely to be necessary before we can actually move on and implement some of these ideas where there are good technical solutions that may be waiting but where the suspicions are extremely high and the stakes are very high. >> the different ministries who saw an interest in controlling their water -- you know, they hold their cards close to the chest. the ministry of energy and water, ministry of agriculture,

irrigation and livestock all ine different interests water, and there needs to be more communication amongst them. even within the united states, we find those interagency dialogue hard to maintain. >> quickly, your sense of what is going to happen next year, whether afghanistan is going to make it through these elections, and whether the u.s. and nato will be able to withdraw in peace. claimed to be an expert on the future because i .ave never been there after what we have been through the past couple of months, i would hesitate to make addictions about the future of the united states. i am confident that the elections will produce a result that will be recognized as as a as longnt, and at least

as the absolutely necessary financial support to the salaries of the security forces and the government go a long, there will be plenty of political crises and other emergencies, but there will not be a collapse of the state. the regional situation is radically different. there is a regional consensus, even including pakistan and strongly including china, which pakistan would not like to should nothat there be a taliban government in afghanistan, though there are differences on what role taliban should play in the future, set up of the country. i would also add one other , which is that i have excessive personal relations with members of the political elite of afghanistan, and of

course, there are many things they do that they do not tell me about, but i have observed a huge change in the past 13 years . in their relations with each other, something which is not often commented on, 13 years ago, they did not know each other. their relations were either fighting with each other or yelling at each other over the radio. now, including the people who are political opponents, they all know each other. they have all worked together. prior to the election, all the candidates who were running against each other met with each other extensively to talk about rules for the game and how to resolve it. i am confident that whatever the outcome of the election may be, those people with their relations with each other and with the right international support, will be able to find some kind of settlement, even if many of them are not that happy with it. >> we have a lot of experts in this audience, which is great. >> thank you, barbara, and thank

you to the panel. this is a very rich opening remarks. i have a two-part question. the first one talking about the india-pakistan-iran pipeline. there have been some concerns that if and when the pipeline is ever completed, even the first leg of iran-pakistan, whether there will be enough iranian gas available to put into the pipeline. if you could comment on that. second question is really to both of you. the role ofh different groups in the region and whether there is still officially u.s. support, what role pakistan lays in allowing these groups to its territory,

if it is very clear-cut, or if this is something that is happening in spite of what the government of pakistan would .ant to happen pipeline first. thaturse, that is a fact any resources are limited. the problem with iran is that iny have failed to invest their gas and oil industry for 34 years. 1/100 of what -- they put in the nuclear program were invested in gas, they would

be in better shape today. gasmajor problem is that has basically evaporated. because they do not have means to store it. to work to find -- the right way to find closest route was pakistan. they could have made a very good india and pakistan were also involved. delay, point, for every they are losing money because they cannot store it. they do not have the means. i'm no expert and technical terms, but they have not invested. they do not have anything.

ony concentrated heavily pakistan. they targeted pakistan and afghanistan, india, and have much.hey do not that's why i call it a lien without tail and mane. lot,hey have done a providing pakistan with $500 million to start the project. and they are getting impatient. i personally think it would just go on and on, and the nuclear negotiations and sanctions would have a major impact on what would happen to the peace pipeline. the leader was hanged in 2010, and manpower of this insurgent

group is not clear. no one knows how many people .hey have there's a fine line between being involved in drug trafficking networks and, say, you know, freedom fighters. after the leader was hanged in out. almost 17 groups came 17 insurgent groups came out .laiming to be the successor -- they openly announced that they want to expand solecism in the region. iranians suspect and claim to the documents that suggest

groups are financed by saudi's to insert instability in the region and to basically drag that instability to other parts of iran. some of them also suppress it. i hope i have answered your question. briefly, first, we should put this in the context of politics in the area, where afghanistan, pakistan, and iran meet. they are a largely nomadic people, like many trans-boarder largely nomadic people. they are involved in what we call smuggling and what they call trade. therefore, the relations with .overnments are ambiguous afghanistan has not had an internal problem primarily because afghanistan has

the rebels in both iran and pakistan. pakistan is now going through fifth insurgency, which is a secular nationalist insurgency. which is in conflict as well .ith the taliban with iran, of course, the intensification of the shia geological part of the regime, to moremadinejad led discontent among the sunni populations of iran, and particular including baluchistan . charged that india and at times the united states the pakistanting insurgency from afghanistan.

iran has charged pakistan and perhaps the united states and saudi arabia may be supporting the iranian insurgency inside iran. the truth of these various charges is rather murky. however, as part of our policy in this administration, one of the measures that we tried to ake early on in order to send message to iran that u.s. presence in afghanistan was directed at the stabilization of afghanistan and not against iran was to make it clear that the united states did not support it took aalthough while to get through the process, they were declared a foreign terrorist operation in 2010. bear in mind that the law does not require the united states government to declare every organization that meets the criteria a foreign terrorist organization. there's political latitude as to whether it is a good idea or

not, and there were people in the u.s. government who argued that regardless of the empirical merits of the case, that was not the time to do something. we practically have already seen aggravatingfurther the situation, in particular because of the potential for saudi involvement or at least iranian perception of saudi involvement. the microphone. say your name, please. >> thank you. my name is omar, and i met the new american foundation right now. i will start with water, if you do not mind, quickly.

what the situation in kabul looks like is that there's mistrust, but there is also a lack of political will, and there's lack of political will because afghanistan and the government feel vulnerable. they do not have the type of -- they do not feel that your enough to be able to address it. curer y do not feel the enough to be able to address it. part of the problem is that we do not have the capacity to be able to deal with it. there's a lack of knowledge, and that lack of knowledge translates into inaction, so nobody wants to touch this because it is a hot potato. they think it is a cop at cato, but maybe it is not. for barney.question iran, ifack to tsa and you think that iran, for example, over the next few the russia, china,

india camp by not opposing -- at least not opposing it, and tolerating it, what impact would withhave on reconciliation the taliban, and also what impact would it have on the april elections as far as what , theall the compensation grouping of the new government is concerned? >> as far as the water comment and the political will and the complications of the situation, i will note that ishmael kohn, when he was the head of the up,nistration of waters set some watershed organizations in kabul to help maintain continuity across the , but theions limitation of the plan is very

complicated and very hard. within even afghanistan, you have provinces that are sharing water. it wash 2012, facilitated by the international forces, but it was an opportunity to bring afghans together to discuss the situation. that meeting, representatives from helmand province attended. it was the first time they had sat together to have this discussion. historically and culturally, withare more connected other areas. to bring them to gary -- to bring them together was interesting. at the end of the meeting, people kind of went, "we understand your concerns, and we will form a committee. i think that was the last i was involved. i'd be deployed after that. but i think the opportunities are many.

i'm watchful right now. know -- i will predict a quick change in iranian position verbally, because of the ideological role that opposition to the united states plays in the legitimacy of the iranian regime, but the have tried to make opposition to the united states a six color of islam, though it is not mentioned in the koran. it would be hard to walk back from the verbal opposition. nuclear if the negotiations to continue to the perception that an american presence in afghanistan is a direct presence to everett -- a direct that to be reduced.finitely

therefore, i expect that regardless of the evolution of --n's equatorial policy declaratory policy, it will not undertake measures to her suede -- dissuade afghanistan from signing the deal. on the elections, within afghanistan's political elites, those who are within the current system, as far as i can see, there is a consensus in favor of the bsa, and that even those whom iran regards as its closest friends and allies have not really echoed iran's position on that, or i should say, more precisely, from time to time, one of them has said something, perhaps in order to keep money flowing from iran, but they do not say it with any conviction, and they do not seem to be

mobilizing their followers against it or anything like that. i think to the extent that it is a settled issue and it is not part of the debate airing the election, it will not be a factor. it is important for the taliban ofause the legitimation their struggle is on the basis of fighting against foreign occupation. say -- if i can just summarize some interactions with people close to them -- what those and, let's say, the peace can't in the taliban or the pro- negotiation part of the taliban and say, they say, similar to iran, that the presence of u.s. will make a political agreement among afghans impossible because they will continue to fight, and they

cannot believe there's a reasonably level playing field for them and the other afghan political groups as long as the u.s. and international community support those who are in power now. and that therefore the troops should leave. then they claim it will be easy for afghans to reach an agreement. of course, if the united states believed that, we would leave, but we do not believe that, and i'm not sure the taliban do, either. the argument that to them, even if it skeptically is, "we do not believe you, we do not believe there is aappen," if political settlement, then of course, those troops are only agreement of the afghan government. it's at some point the afghan government does not want them, of course, i think the united totes would be very happy take them away. the united states is not seeking .hat agreement we have those power projection

capabilities. >> we only have five minutes left, so i'm going to take three questions. ok, so, first few in the front row. say your name. >> thank you. i'm from the afghanistan council. its two comments. one is that iran does have territorial problems in the west when iraq. in south asia, they do not have it, but the problem is we think afghanistan was created in 2001. afghanistan had history.

when there was a rapprochement with the president with the shock, then there was another coup, which raises the point that bonnie was saying, that it is crucial for 2014 for afghanistan to have a sensible government. i know of at least one or two candidates that have a plan, as you have described so , sotfully, for the future it is there. it is not that it does not exist. it just needs international backing. >> our former intern, who also wrote a paper that we cite in our new report. >> i actually have two questions. if the iranians get a presence on the table, how do you think the pakistanis make out?

my question to you, what about international organizations? talking about iran at the downstream level, no one wants to talk to america. you have any organizations doing .ny work on the ground >> last, the gentleman in the green very quickly. >> i'm a student at johns hopkins university. i had a question about what role do you think -- do you think afghanistan will have a good role in stopping the drug flow into iraq on the border? does afghanistan have the to stop that in

the future? >> why don't you start. you mean whether or not the government of afghanistan, the future government, that they will do something to stop drug trafficking? >> iran is left with doing a specific percentage of stopping the flow from afghanistan to iran to the rest of the world. do not have any sanctions helping them out, either, so the u.s. could potentially play a bigger role helping afghanistan domestically. brought it up. one of the issues is the poppy crop. afghans have been involved in wars for decades now. you do not know if you will be living there in the next five years.

you just live from other products, which is something that brings profit. you would not lose anything if you have to leave. how the iranians are trying to help or claim they are trying to afghanistan is helping them with their agriculture, switching to other products. i do not know how close you are following that, but these other arguments also contribute to helping afghans with better waters meant -- water management, which would definitely help them move away from the poppy crop. that's actually one of the things that iranians are asking the international community. >> thank you for that question.

a keybank is playing role, working with the food and agricultural organization to install some monitoring stations. problems with that are that the monitoring stations get it in. there is not upkeep and maintenance. you can collect all the data in the world. share do not have any ability or an analysis plan, what is the purpose? a lot of times, groups like the asian development bank have been .unding projects however, there are some misaligned metrics because many times, those groups are interested in the amount of money they can obligate and the amount of drugs they can confiscate. if everyone in this room has a project they want to do and about how discussion you will have the water to back it, you may not have a discussion there.

finally, other international organizations that are working with the environment thomas as barbara lee did two very early anthis, there is internationally recognized wetlands area at the border with iran and afghanistan. however, since 19 99, the timeframe has been severely degraded. and a lot of this is because of climate issues. there's not the water going into the system. a lot of that is tied to management of water or mismanagement of water, depending on your perspective. >> final thoughts? >> first about drugs, just to repeat what has been said poppy, the adoption of cultivation and its concurrent is an adaptation to insecurity in afghanistan. that's what all the studies show. it will not be eliminated as long as people are insecure. there are provinces with strong governors and afghanistan that have eliminated hoppy cultivation. no one has eliminated drug

trafficking, and it cannot be eliminated as long as there is so much insecurity in the country. nice to meet you off the internet. if i understood your question correctly, it was about whether pakistan would react negatively and perhaps disruptively to .reater iranian involvement pakistan's involvement in afghanistan is not motivated by concerns over iran. pakistan's involvement in afghanistan is motivated first by its internal concerns over by awn unity, second, thread from india. pakistan's actions in response -- perceived that from india. in response to those perceived threats have generated an iranian response, but the pakistan-iran conflict is not the main issue. -- i should also add

that iran's ambitions and .fghanistan are limited in contrast to pakistan, i would say that arends means to influence events and afghanistan are probably greater than its ambitions, whereas pakistan's means to influence events in afghanistan's has been considerably less than its ambitions. pakistan is therefore going through a very difficult and unpredictable process of trying to adjust its ambitions to its real capabilities at a time when, of course, it is also internally in tremendous turmoil as well. >> thank you so much. thank you to our speakers. many more questions -- i'm sure you all do -- but this is a great beginning. thank you very much for coming. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2013]

primee's a look at our time schedule. starting at 8:00 eastern, the hears a case on opening government meetings with a prayer. "washington journal" visits cushing, oklahoma, considered to be the capital of the oil kingdom. and mary schapiro looks back at the changes made to the u.s. financial system after the 2008 crisis. congress is out of session on monday in observance of the veterans day holiday. both chambers return to work on tuesday. to hear about what is ahead, we spoke earlier today with a capitol hill reporter. >> humberto sanchez is a staff writer with "roll call."

holdt and senate conferees that house and senate conferees hold budget talks. what is their status? >> they continued to try to find common ground on the goal of the talks. expect a lot of positioning on open positions on where the negotiations will begin. actuallyatter murray gave a speech about what her goals are on the floor last issday, saying that she looking for a budget deal for the short term, basically, and to rollback the sequester, to replace the sequester, and she is hoping that republicans go along with closing tax loopholes to do so, but republicans seem somewhat skeptical of the idea because they think it's just another way of raising taxes. >> next week, senate committees are holding confirmation hearings for two of the administration's nominees. jeh johnson to be homeland security secretary, and federal

reserve chairman nominee janet yellen. what's the status of those nominees in the confirmation process? >> senate democratic leader harry reid definitely wants to try to get this done as soon as possible. they are both coming up next week, and we could see some action on them before -- soon after they come out of committee . if they do come out of committee, senator rand paul has threatened to put a hold on janet yellen's nomination in order to get a vote on the federal reserve amendment he has been pushing for a wild. would jeh johnson, some republicans have raised concern about his qualifications and they have also said that his background as a one raiser for president obama is an issue as well. >> tell us some of the details of the legislation to be taken up on the federal health care law. >> the law basically authorizes insurance companies to continue to offer plans that would have been canceled due to the new standards under obamacare.

the bill basically -- president obama during the debate said people could keep their plans if they like them, and now that seems to be not the case. millions of people have gotten notices that their plans have been canceled. the idea behind this is to maybe try to score some political points on that, but also there is a big debate going on in congress about whether there should be a delay in the affordable care act and many of its provisions. >> health-care care legislation also scheduled in the senate compounding.rmacy they are also planning apparently to consider a few more judicial nominations. what else is going on in the senate? >> that will be the balance of the week. we will have a vote on adc a d ct court judge -- circuit court judge. she likely is not going to be able to get the votes needed. republicans argue that this three vacant seats on the court, and the caseload for the court does not represent or them to fill those three seats -- is not

requisite for them to fill those three seats. they probably will not give her cloture, and she probably will not get the votes needed. then the senate will move on to overcome pharmacy legislation, which is basically designed to after a fungalt meningitis outbreak last year killed 65 people due to medication that was contaminated . senator venter wants to offer an amendment that he has been to prohibita while staff from getting health care , and also to ensure that all staff and lawmakers and certain executive branch officials go into the exchanges. senator harry reid is offering the opportunity to have the amendment on the condition that it again inoffer this congress. they continue to talk, according to democratic aides.

>> we thank you for your time today. >> thank you so much. next, senate minority leader mitch mcconnell taking part in an epa public meeting on regulating carbon emission. this is one of 11 public meetings the epa is hoping to get public input before releasing final rules on regulating carbon emissions from existing power plants. .his is an hour and 40 minutes >> thank you all very much for in today'sarticipate session, which is part of what is now an ongoing national intended to help

the environmental protection agency and the states determine effective ways to prevent carbon pollution from existing power plants. power plants are the nations single largest source of carbon pollution, a source we must address as we work to combat climate change. one of the most significant public health risks of our time. science tells us that climate change is real, that human activities are fueling that change, and that we must take action now to avoid the most devastating consequences. in june, president obama called on agencies across the federal government, including epa, to take action to cut carbon pollution to protect our country from the impact of climate change and to leave the world in this effort. the president's call included a

"to work for epa expeditiously to complete carbon pollution standards for both new and existing power plants." currently, there are no federal standards in place to reduce carbon pollution from the country's largest source of that pollution. , "continuingnded our work that began under the president's leadership a year ago, when we establish historic fuel economy standards for passenger vehicles that will save consumers thousands of dollars at the pump and will cut carbon pollution from our cars in half by 2025." in september, we announced our proposal to set standards for carbon pollution emitted by power plants built in the future

. these proposed standards are practical, flexible, and achievable and ensure that power companies investing in new fossil fueled power plants will use modern technologies that limit emissions of harmful .arbon pollution these standards ensure a clear path forward for a continued, diverse energy mix. beginning our work to develop proposed carbon solution guidelines for existing power plants, guidelines that will be used by the states as required by the clean air act, to develop and woman programs for reducing carbon pollution from the power plants -- to develop and implement programs for reducing carbon pollution from the power plants.

we have done our job for more than four decades, and we've done it by relying on the best available science, by being transparent in our decision- making, and by working with everyone to develop commonsense approaches to protecting and improving the environment across the 40-year history has proved that we can reduce per pollution while creating jobs and strengthening the economy at the same time. it is this history that brings us here today. to hear from you, as we consider the best, most flexible approaches to reducing carbon pollution from the existing power fleet. in 10ay's meeting, and others like this around the country this fall, epa is reaching out to the public at large to get your input. we want to hear from everyone, including communities, industry leaders,